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As someone who travels, often, I find it’s a little rude to expect my friends and family to throw me a welcome home party. Instead, I opt to throw my own welcome home party, bringing along some of the local delicacies and creating an ambiance that catches the essence of my recent travels.

After traveling to Italy, I knew I wanted to share some of that experience with my friends and family. Cheeses, cured meats, and especially wine are a part of the local culture all over Italy and I knew it would make for a great spread! With my tips and tricks, you can bring a piece of your recent travels home to throw your own welcome party, too!

Setting the mood at your gathering will be the framework for your evening and there’s no better way to capture the character of a country or place than with some of your souvenirs and other travel themed pieces.

I opted to set out some of the gifts I’ve brought home from Italy including a painting from the Ligurian Coast, a painted glass bottle of lemon juice from the Amalfi Coast, a glass photo frame from Venice (with Polaroids from Italy!), ceramic serving bowls from Positano and a few other pieces I collected along my adventures in Italy.

Furthering my travel themed welcome-home party theme, I opted to go with a world map and a map of Italy – instead of a traditional, cloth table-runner. The maps were the perfect foundations for my table setting as I used those to direct where my charcuterie boards and plates went.

How perfect were these maps to pull the various plates and dishes together, all while staying on theme?!

I also opted to use white marble serving boards for my fruits, veggies, spreads, meats and cheeses and then pulled colorful plates and purple tinted, stemless wine glasses to give an extra addition of color as well as capture the colorful mood from my souvenirs and décor.

Is there anything quite like a globe to set the theme of “travel”?!

With wine bottles this beautiful, they add to the décor!

When planning your own welcome home party – you’re going to want to pull inspiration from the cuisine of the destination you’re returning home from. In my case, pulling inspiration from Italy, this meant I would be serving fresh baked bread along with cured meats, delicious cheeses, fresh vegetables and fruit and various spreads for the bread.

The colorful, Italy theme was pulled together between the foods, the maps and especially with the AVA Grace Vineyards wine bottles.

Nothing quite pairs with a good charcuterie spread the way white wine does and I wanted to accommodate different tastes so I paired my party with AVA Grace’sSauvignon Blanc as well as AVA Grace’s Pinot Grigio. In Italy, it’s common to serve prosciutto with melon on the side – making the notes of grapefruit, gooseberry, and melon in the Sauvignon Blanc perfect to pair with the Italian cured meats. The notes of honeysuckle, lime, and stone fruit found in the Pinot Grigio were a delicious, zesty pair for the nuts and marinated olives in my spread. The icing on the cake? The blue hues from the AVA Grace wine bottles ended up matching my décor and overall theme perfectly!

Cheers! There’s nothing quite like toasting with friends and family.

From the décor to the cuisine served and especially the wine – you, too, can have the perfect “welcome home” party after your travels!

Bio: Jackie is the author at Get Lost With Jackiewhere she covers “Travel, Lifestyle, Views + Hues” providing readers with in depth travel itineraries, luxury hotel reviews, travel style guides and a peek into the overall luxury lifestyle while focusing on bright, vibrant photography. You can follow her adventures on Instagram at @getlostwithjackie.